Kyoto Xanadu
by OtakuOne
Summary: As long the Eclipse exists, they exist everywhere. You never know, maybe they also exist on other cities besides Tokyo... Thus, the curtain opens once again, 'though in another city. Welcome to Kyoto, "the Eternal city"... or is it?
1. Prologue 1

_So, you guys already know the end of Tokyo Xanadu, right? _

_Greed, Eclipse, Nemesis, Zodiac, and everything... _

_While it's true that they rescued an important friend, they had a much bigger problem... Do Eclipses only cover Tokyo? What about the other cities?_

_Do they also face the same ordeal?_

_That's why we're here._

_We're here to tell you another side of the story, despite not taking place in Tokyo, this will also feature Eclipse, Greed and more destruction of humanity you could think of._

_But don't be mistaken,_

**_they_**_ aren't the same._

_Welcome to Kyoto, the Eternal city..._

_Is this city... really as "Eternal" as they say?_

_We're about to find out._

"It is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence"

– W. K. Clifford

* * *

**START**

_Tick._

"A-Aaah... Y-you monster! Get away from me!" The monster closes in on the innocent man, giving away immense murderous intent, and the clock moves.

_Tock._

"W-what did you do to all these people?!" Step by step, the man gets more terrified by the sounds of the huge unnatural footsteps closing in, the monster's prey is about to be eaten. The clock moves yet again.

_Tick._

"W-why...?" Then the monster is head-to-head, a millimeter away from his prey... The clock moves yet again.

_Tock._

* * *

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" A girl screams out, looking at her lunch on the floor, now is food for the hungry ants below.

"MY LUNCH!" The girl glares at the guy who accidentally made her lunch food for the little ants hungry for lunch.

"Uh, Ma_-chin_, I just accidently bumped it because _this guy_ pushed me..." The boy shook and failed to admit his mistakes knowingly that she would be really mad after that statement. "Hey, why me?!" said the guy who didn't have to do with anything behind him.

"Hm... Kano...?" The girl stared at him, and it really looked like she wants to kill him, yet Kano still refused to back down, as he was prideful... Really prideful.

"Hmph, Mayu...?" Kano and Mayu glared at eachother like they're life-long rivals, refusing to lose to eachother, wait, it's just not "like", they **ARE** life-long rivals, since childhood, they were fighting over anything they talked about and they're on really bad terms since then... Well, not "anything", just an exaggeration, but mostly everytime they meet they fight.

"Now, now, guys, not like it was anyone's fault, let's just be happy befriending each other, okay?" A girl butted in the middle of their conversation, trying to stop the two berserk teens from arguing, the two fighters backed down, as if that girl was a holy being that needs to be obeyed.

"Ah, fine, we'll stop for now... You'll be getting it from me from behind the school later, Kano_-kun_..." Mayu dropped her fierce look and said it with an exhausted manner, although the last sentence wasn't that loud compared to the first thing she said. Kano shrugged and looked at the girl who stopped the argument from happening. Mayu walked back to her seat and tried to get her fallen lunchbox, leaving the contents alone while signaling Kano to take care of it. Kano knew that he had to be the one responsible for that mess, but he sighed anyways.

"Hey, Kano-kun... I know you guys are life-long rivals but you overdid it, she didn't deserve that kind of treatment... Now, she'll be pretty hungry for the whole day!" The girl who stopped them, was Kano's friend, she scolded her friend from doing a really insensitive thing. Kano didn't care less and put his legs on his table, sitting in a disrespectful way. She was certainly bothered by what he's doing and still put up with it.

"Who cares, Aoyama? Ma-chin isn't even worth to be treated nicely." Kano didn't really had anything like "consideration" for Mayu, he was just treating her cruelly because of his deep hatred for her.

"Aren't you the same...?" Aoyama whispered in an unusual tone, in a volume where Kano wouldn't hear.

"Anyways, you can just eat your lunch peacefully now that we stopped." Kano shoo'ed away Aoyama like she was some fly to him.

"Fine, just don't forget to clean up the mess you made." Aoyama sighed and pointed at the messy rice, sausages and egg rolls on the floor of their classroom. After that, she came back to her seat and did her usual thing.

'Tis that, then he thought about the actions he did, he, who doesn't have any consideration for Mayu, was considering the thought of buying her bread in the cafeteria, although that thought vanished when he saw the fallen contents of Mayu's lunch.

"Guh." Kano looked back in disgust from seeing the chaotic filth on the floor. Since he had no choice, he sighed and get started by grabbing the cleaning tools in the locker. He wiped away all the filth of the lunch on the floor and he heard a klack sound of a metal dropping on the floor as soon he was done cleaning, he had a feeling it was an important item to him and he looked back then he saw Mayu getting his keys.

When Mayu was about to reach it out to him, he forcefully got the key back from the grip of her hand, while still glaring at Mayu like he wants to curse her. Mayu got back to what she was doing without minding it too much.

_'Ugh. Why do Mayu always mess with my stuff...' _Kano thought the deep hatred and rivalry he has on Mayu until the rest of the day ended without another big event happening like what happened on their lunch break.

Thus the bell rang.

"Alright, it's the appointed time she said where we would finally settle things." Kano said, despite his understanding of Mayu's sentence wasn't oh-so-correct, he was just about right until the point he said they would settle things.

Kano walked with big steps despite being a small person on the stairs, he got everyone's attention though not intending to, he was just excited, he walked down the stairs with great vigor until he encountered a teacher along the way.

"Kageyama-san, please descend the stairs quietly... You're disturbing the other students here." Kano shrugged and replied with a low-sound 'okay' with a dissatisfying face like he didn't want to meet a teacher today.

"That's it! Come to the Counselling Room! You need some guidance young man!" Kano was surprised, he didn't expect to go to the counselling room this day and age, like, who does that nowadays? Anyways, he got angry at the teacher, saying "But I need to be somewhere!", however, the teacher didn't believe him and caused him to go slump and gave up on convincing the teacher.

* * *

At the Counselling Room, two men sit upon the different sides of the table.

"Kageyama-san, your actions as of lately has been really inappropriate for a person of this prestigious school." Kano clicked his tongue and was annoyed for a fact that a teacher caught him.

"But the most concerning 'trouble' you have made so far is that you treat Mayu Takahashi-san rather cruelly, I would say." The teacher said, adjusting his glasses by lifting them up a bit using his index and middle finger.

Kano, was a fact, was really irritated and slammed the table.

"Listen, teach', I know I did something wrong and I'm sorry about that, not all people have that much free time to listen to an adult's ramblings about correcting my fucking actions and shitty lecture stuff like that, alright?! Can I go out, now? Not like you who can sit on a chair all day lecturing people, I have someone to meet up with." Kano walked up to the door, then the teacher smirked as he reached for the door handle, as if he expected that.

"Kano." The teacher called out in a very low voice as if it was filled with malice, but Kano sensed that and suddenly in his tracks.

"Ah, I remember now... Takahashi-san told me that she doesn't even know why you treat her like a bad guy... Poor little girl, she didn't have anything do with your stress-relieving hobby of yours... Pushing your anger towards someone else, huh?" The teacher gone on and on while Kano was just at the door, shaking with rage as he listened to the teacher rambling about Takahashi's poor tale of being bullied by a childhood _friend_.

"Teach... How could you say that even if I'M the VICTIM here?! Stop with that bullshit!" Kano reacted to the things the teacher said, even knowing it's a bait. He slowly walked to the teacher with mad hatred and killing intent. He held the teacher by the neck, slowly suffocating him. The teacher firmly gripped Kano's arms and faced Kano with an intimidating smile. Kano loosened his grip due to the different smile the teacher gave.

"W-what? _*cough*_ You're going to kill me? If you will, won't you become the culprit here?" Kano twitched. He lost control of himself and he regretted that fact. He let go of the teacher and he packed all his things. Just few seconds before Kano left, the teacher's warning made him stop for a microsecond.

"Don't run away from the monster from the other side. That's all, goodbye."

Then Kano left the room.

"Kano Kageyama, huh... Interesting kid." He leans back to the sofa, he thought of every info he has on him.

"Too bad... You will finally encounter the dark tones of the world as soon as you leave this room, kid... Will you run away from the depths of your memories? Or... face the truth with a firm soul?" He giggled, he knew what was happening, and what will happen.

"Hah. I know that he will run away though... Unless he can break that fate? Anyhow, I look forward to seeing this through..."

Then, he disappeared as if he wasn't someone from this world.

* * *

"Whew. That was a depressing ride... It was that teacher's fault anyways." He thought back to his conversation with the teacher. He knew that he wasn't just an ordinary teacher and wondered who he gets the information from.

Although he banished that thought when he noticed something he forgot.

"Shit, what time is it?!" He looked at his watch, noticing he gone past the time of the meeting, he panicked, and ran as fast as he can to the back of the school.

"Hah, I'm almost there!" He jumped over sets of stairs, like he wasn't a human being, and not even getting harmed. His adrenaline rush was probably too high and made him invincible to anything.

And then he was almost out of breath when he just reached the back of the school, still hoping Mayu was there.

"Hey, Ma-" Yes, Mayu was there... Although, she wasn't there at the same time...

"Hey, M-Mayu, this isn't real, right?" _'this is just a dream'_

Lying on her back.

"That... you're dead?" _'thisisjustadream'_

Blood drips from her head.

"No..." _'__thisisjustadream__thisisjustadream__thisisjustadream__thisisjustadream'_

A pool of blood gathers all the blood that had dripped from her head.

"No, no, no, no" _'__thisisjustadream__thisisjustadream__thisisjustadream__thisisjustadreamadream__adream__adream__adream__adream'_

Lifeless eyes, without a soul controlling her body...

"A-_'__adream__adream__adream'_aaaa..._'thisisjustadream'_aaaaaah..._'__adreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdream'_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As he shouted, he looked at his back...

'Thus, the clock moves yet again.

**"Prologue ~1~" concludes.**

* * *

**A/N HEY Y'ALL I MADE ANOTHER STORY AFTER BEING SO INACTIVE FOR SOOO LONG**

**SO I JUST REMEMBERED I PLAYED A GAME CALLED TOKYO XANADU AND I JUST uh... made a fanfic about it**

**although this have gone beyond my expectations. I was supposed to only make a one-shot but... eh.**

**thanks for reading~ stay tuned for more exciting, doki-doki heart-pounding chapters**

**EI EI OOOOOHOHHHHHHHHHH!**

**btw sorry for the short start, i'll just divide this into parts because i'm lazy**


	2. Prologue 2

"The time has come." A mysterious figure eerily said to the wind, delivering a message to no one. He was, but, just simply talking to himself.

"Time to see this story unfold."

—He then, became one with the wind.

* * *

"Ha... _*cough*_ Haaah..."

Running out of breath, he ran for his life on a soulless, and horrifying world.

Exactly, this is their world, but not their world. Another term would be "side", the world we are living on is made of two sides, light; the surface of the world, and the darkness; the unimaginable horrors that hides beneath the surface, and this, was the Eclipse, a distorted side of the world. The world is brimming with negativity at every nook and cranny–

-The dark side of the world is what would describe Eclipse perfectly.

In this world, running, but to where? He doesn't know himself. All he knows that he needs to run. Run from the monsters that lurks at differing directions.

"What the hell is this world?!" He shouted, yet no one hears him. That, however, attracted some monsters, due to his stupidity and his sudden shout, he realized what he did and ran once again. He was persistent. He wanted to survive; human instinct is what you'd call that, and Kano wasn't exempted from that. Though, having the energy to run, the repeating aching of his head still hunts him until now.

"Ah... Ugh... Why...?"

Annoyed by his aching of his head, he made a stop. He couldn't take it anymore.

He experienced a rival's death, even if that would make him happy, he wasn't ready. He did have murderous intent towards her although he wasn't ready. He convinced himself that it was her fault although he wasn't ready. He expected something would happen to her sooner or later although he wasn't ready. He, simply, wasn't ready.

Combined with the continuous pain in his head, he isn't capable of maintaining his normal condition anymore.

Thus, he stopped.

And it was the end for him.

Countless monsters surround him, some are melting, some are bloody, all of them are monstrous. They are nightmare fuel for his mind.

He just stopped there, he didn't care if he gets killed right now, since he had no life in his eyes anymore.

He didn't have the energy to do anything, but even if he did, he would be running without an end in sight, thus endlessly.

He suffered countless hours of unfortunate situations.

He can't move his body anymore, he was numbing all over.

His sanity, is now shattered.

Everything was over.

His life flashed in his eyes, an exact death sign.

Starting from one day in his childhood...

* * *

There was a girl, whose name was Mayu, she was a smart child that always play with Kano; a normal kid that doesn't even have good manners and always charges headfirst to danger while playing.

Mayu would always stop Kano from doing dangerous stuff, she was like the law enforcer for Kano.

One thing you could call them, is "happy and carefree kids".

But, one day on their friend's house...

_"Hey, Mayu, over here!" Kano climbed up the wall, despite his small structure, he was pretty atlethic._

_"A-Are you crazy?! I can't do that!" Mayu gulped as she saw the big wall in front of her, it was like a giant who wants to eat their prey._

_"C'mon, you can do it!" Kano held out his hand, reaching for Mayu as he speaks._

_Mayu sighed and had no choice but to follow Kano. She climbed up the walls and groaned due to how tired she was._

_"Ha... Ha... How did you climb up the wall without getting out of breath?" She held on her knees and sweated a lot, Kano noticed that she was sweating and lend her a towel. Mayu took the towel and wiped herself._

_"Hahaha, it's just because you're a girl." Kano teased Mayu, pointing at her breasts, Mayu covered her breasts as it was wet due to sweat and climbed down on the other side, sneaking into their friend's house, they devised a plan to surprise their grandma with presents in their grip, and sneaked into the closet of their friend's room._

_"This will be exciting..." Kano said in a low voice, making sure no one except Mayu and himself hear that._

_"Yeah!" Mayu, doing also the same, she nodded slightly within the tight space._

_Suddenly, they heard the mechanical sound of a door opening in the room and stayed quiet in the closet._

_But they didn't expect another person that would present themselves in the room._

_He was a man clad in black clothing all over himself and had a mask on that had holes around the place where the eyes are located. They got scared, since they noticed that there was a gun on his waist belt, and gulped._

_They don't know how to handle this situation, they didn't expect this to happen._

_They were shaking, fear consumed their body, the man clad in black browsed through their friend's cabinets, hoping they don't get noticed, they hold their breath, but they couldn't conceal the noise of their heartbeat thumping that echoed in the closet._

_The man then reached the closet, as the man's hand got closer to the handle, Mayu got more nervous. Kano and Mayu was filled with sweat due to fear and the hot temperature of the closet._

_Closer._

_The feelings are getting stronger..._

_Then Mayu broke._

_"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" Mayu rushed out of the closet and took the gun quickly out of his waist belt, the burglar was surprised to see 2 kids in a closet, the burglar tried to take Kano out of the closet, intending to take him as hostage, but then..._

**_*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*_**

_The gun shots sound rang through the whole house, so loud that Mayu and Kano had to close their eyes and covered their ears due to the continuous ringing in their sense of hearing._

_Kano then opened his eyes... But then he saw something more gruesome... Behind him was a open door, and their friend's body... Lying down on the floor with soulless eyes, Kano puked all over the floor, his eyes didn't believe it. Then looked at the burglar, they were dead too..._

_Then glared at Mayu..._

_Mayu covered her face with her shaking hands..._

_That, was when he finally said it..._

_"No way..."_

_"T-They're... dead."_

_"NO!" Kano's scream echoed through the whole neighborhood..._

_and that was when his hatred for Mayu started._

* * *

"Guess this is it, then..." He held his head down, ready to face his fate.

_'Goodbye, world...'_

_'Sorry, Mayu. I shouldn't had my hatred directed at you when you were just protecting me...'_

_'I'm the worst...'_

Then he closed his eyes-

***SLASH!***

"Wha...?" He was dumbfounded, he thought he was going to die...

He raised his head and saw a slim silhouette of a girl.

A beautiful girl; silky yet smooth short peach hair, snow white skin colour, strawberry-like smell of hers fluttered through the air, she is what you'd call, the perfect girl for guys...

And Kano noticed her uniform was the same as his' school's girl uniform... Which meant that she goes to the same school as him.

"Who...?" Kano had his eyes wide open. He wondered why a girl would save a poor man like him, it didn't make sense to him; who thought he had no value because of everything bad deed he had done.

But he cried.

He was thankful...

She, then, asked...

"Are you okay?"

* * *

**A/N Sorry for the wait, been busy with stuff and i'm lazy too.**

**Part 3 of prologue expected to come next week. Stay tuned~**


	3. Prologue 3

"Who... are you?" Kano timidly asked, the world around him lit up, as someone saved him, that gave him a ray of hope.

The girl looked back, her hair fluttered elegantly with the breeze of the wind.

"Hm, me?" The girl slowly walked towards the boy before answering his question.

"My name is not important, as you will never remember it anyways after you step out of this world... So, I'll just say, I'm going to be your bodyguard of some sorts in this world, haha~" The girl snickered as she jokingly said the latter part of her sentence.

"That being said, let's get out of here, okay?" She reached out her hand towards Kano, who was currently lying down on the floor.

"U-Um, alright..." Kano took her hand and stood up.

The girl walked towards a wall, and looked back at Kano, indicating that he should follow her.

Kano was confused by her actions, but nonetheless, he followed her.

The girl put her hand on the wall, then started chanting random words, Kano didn't understand a thing about the girl's actions, but he decided to stay quiet, she was the one that saved him, he didn't have the right to criticize her right now.

"And... Open." The girl declared as if she was talking to the wall, then the wall suddenly exploded into pieces and revealed a path towards an exit.

"Alright, go over there and leave." The girl said to Kano, Kano then stepped back, he didn't allow his pride to leave that girl alone.

But he obeyed her words anyways.

He knew that he would be a burden.

He didn't have a weapon.

She knew how to fight those monsters, while he didn't.

While he was walking towards the exit, he looked back, since he wanted to ask one more thing.

"Hm?" The girl noticed Kano, then knew that he was going to ask something.

"Uh..."

"How about... the girl?" Yes. This was the question Kano wanted to ask. He still didn't believe it. He hoped for at least a little glimmer of hope—

"She's dead. Don't go hoping that she would still be alive."

—But there was none.

Only despair.

Kano turned his back towards the girl and ran towards the exit and...

"Good night."

* * *

**Next Morning...**

"Huh?" My eyes widen as I suddenly wake up from a bad dream. Can't remember what it was, though. But, damn, my head hurts like hell. "Ugh." I groaned as I try to suppress the pain within my head.

I was lying down on my bed. The pain in my head slowly subsided as I struggle to pick myself up and stand up.

Why do I feel like I had a really rough day yesterday?

Alright, let's review the facts.

I am Kano Kageyama. 16 years old. A student at Shinsou High School...

Well, that's obvious, I know myself best, but what about yesterday? What did I do?

All I can remember is that I ate lunch, did my usual thing, got scolded by a teacher, and then... _What happened_?

There's a gap in my memory... This is freaking me out.

Oh well, no point getting worked up about this.

Time to get ready for school.

As I put on my uniform, I noticed a brown stain on my white polo... Where did I get this? Didn't I do the laundry yesterday? Well... I can't... remember...

No, no, no, don't overthink this, I should focus on getting ready for school **and nothing else.**

This stain wouldn't be noticed that much, anyway.

I opened the door to the outside as I'm finished preparing, I'm almost late for school, so I can just skip breakfast. I ran as fast as I can to the stairs of the apartment I'm living in and worked my way downstairs and towards the school.

* * *

"Good morning, Kano!" Aoyama greeted me as soon I entered the classroom, then tried to trap me within her arms (basically, a hug.)

Unfortunately for her, though, I dodged her arms and her body tumbled, causing her to trip.

"Ow, ow, ow... Anyways, are you okay, Kano?" Huh? Why would she ask me that when she's the one who tripped and fell on her butt!

"Haa? You're the one who tripped, not me! Why are you asking me that?!" I asked with an unintentional intimidating way, which probably startled her.

"No! I'm not talking about what I did, but about last night, you looked pretty lifeless when you were walking home, almost like a zombie, it was pretty funny to watch you stumbling and tripping! Like you were on drugs! Hahaha!" Wha- This girl is mocking me... But, what did I do, though? I don't get it. I still have this memory gap in my mind... There are, like, myriad questions in my mind right now.

"That's stupid. Me? Being lifeless? In the same sentence? That's a bad combination. I'm always an energetic guy!" I lightly chopped Aoyama's head, by this, she would finally quiet down with the laughing.

"Ow. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, I don't know what you were doing last night, but I won't pry any further. See you~" Ah. This is one of Aoyama's good parts. She's not really nosy about other people's problems. Well, at least she's kind about that.

Aoyama walked away from my desk and sat on her seat...

_Her desk?_ That isn't her desk... Yet, why does it feel... natural?

"Hey, Aoyama, is that really your seat?" I call out to her, asking about her sudden seat change.

"Huh? But this is my seat, though?" _What?_ Weird, I feel like someone else sat there for some reason... No good, I'm letting pointless problems into my mind. Better to ignore it than overthink it.

"Ah, nevermind." As soon as I said that, Aoyama gave me a weird look but did her usual thing again anyway.

"Man, I got a lot of questions today..."

* * *

_*RIIIINNGGGGG*_

Oh, it's breaktime already? That was fast... I didn't even notice because I was too busy thinking...

"Wah!" A girl behind me squealed as her lunch box fell down to the floor. Fortunately, it fell down facing up, not facing down, so her lunch was still safe.

_"MY LUNCH!"_

_"Kano, you asshole!"_

"Gh!" My body stumbled as I remembered something... unpleasant. But, it's weird. I can't remember her face, her name or even her voice... I only remember what she said... Wait, _her_? _She_? How did I know that it was a girl? This is fucking crazy, am I going insa-

"KAAAANOOOO!"

"WAH!" I stumbled as a really huge force pushed my entire body away from the ground.

"I see... As Mr. Newton said, 'A body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion unless it is acted upon by an external force.'. Thank you, Mr. Newton." I was bewildered when I was lying down on the ground all of a sudden... This is all Aoyama's fault for pushing me down with her heavy body.

"Excuse me, I am NOT heavy!" Aoyama shouted as if she read my mind. "Uh, can you get off me, you gorilla incarnate?" Uh-oh. I suddenly became too harsh to her. What's wrong with me today?! Today marks the day I die. Bye, world.

"What? That's a really bad choice of words... Well, I don't mind becoming a strong gorilla." Huh. She didn't mind it, a shocker.

"Gorillas don't have a functioning mind though."

"Clever, but they do. They just don't show it often."

Well, she does have a point.

"Lunch break is ending soon, bye~" Aoyama turned back and walked towards her seat but then- "Don't overdo it, Kano."

Looks like she was worried about me, she's a really great friend...

But I have to get to the bottom of this after all. This is troubling me, and I hate it.

Whatever these 'memories' are, I shall uncover the memories that lay deep inside of my brain.

What a fucking pain!

After all that, I walked towards the cafeteria to find something to eat.

* * *

**AFTER SCHOOL**

Alright, classes are over for today!

Now I can-

"Kageyama-san! Yamamoto-sensei is calling for you at the back of the school!" Back of the school? A weird place to meet up. I nod at the student who told me that and he went back to whatever he's doing.

Guess I'll go there. Can't ignore something like that, after all. I'll have to postpone my search for my memories for now.

**...**

"I'm here, teach..." Well, I finally got here... but now what? I don't see him anywhere...

Is he even here? Damn, that guy played a trick on me, after all, what kind of teacher ask students to meet behind the school? That's just absolute garbage-

"Hello, Kageyama-san, sorry for the sudden notice." Whoa! He was here after all! But where?! I didn't see him anywhere!

"Haa... Finally, teach, what do you need-" As I almost complete my question, a black-ish hand appeared in front of me. "Forgive me, but I need to kill you." Huh?

_*slash*_

"WHOA! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" I barely managed to dodge... It grazed my neck a bit... Is he serious?! Is he really a teacher?! What is that black-

_*slam* *slash*_

Holy fucking shit! That's really fast! He doesn't even give me time to think!

"Fast reflexes, I see... Certainly different from the others. But, oh well, I'll still win in the end."

_*slash* _Guh! What the fuck?! I'm getting out of here, but where?! I want to run, run, and run!

I need to escape from his attacks!

Wait...

This is familiar.

I have been here before... I know there's a gate here.

But where exactly is it?!

"Hm? You're looking for something? Heh, sorry kid, but there's no escape from my hand." He said maliciously as he repeatedly targets me.

"Guh. No choice but to-" Rely on my guts! Here, we, **go!**

"Impossible! You found the gate?! Entering it, too?! How exactly?!"

I "opened" the gate using the sheer force of my body, slamming into an invisible object.

"HRAAAAHH!" It hurts, it hurts, it hurts like crazy!

But I will live on!

Towards the answer... Here I go!

**...**

In the gate, there lies-

Ah, fuck.

This was a wrong move.

There's a lot of monsters around me...

I'm seriously screwed, huh?

I shouldn't have done this.

If only I stayed in my ignorant daily life, I wouldn't have encountered this mess.

Is this finally my death?

... Oh, well.

**PROLOGUE END**

* * *

**A/N **

**Sorry for the delay, everyone! I was too busy in school so I almost forgot about this! Anyway, the prologue ended in a real cliffhanger~ What will happen to Kano-kun?! Well, something like that. **

**But he is the main character, so...**

**Anyways, see you next chapter~**


	4. Arc 1 Part 1

_Fate;_

_Something that you cannot resist._

_Yet, why do you persist?_

_For an ending that doesn't exist..._

_Truly amusing._

"Better a cruel truth than a comfortable delusion."

\- Edward Abbey

* * *

Monsters in every direction. Everywhere you look, there's a monster peeking at every nook and cranny. I'm such a reckless idiot.

I'm screwed, I know that, but why...

_Why can't I give up?_

My heart is pumping so fast. I'm scared as hell. But this place is familiar. Recall it.

Recall how elegant that woman fought. Recall your misdirected anger. Recall everything. Combine all your feelings!

Mayu...

All because of these monsters... It's all their fault... I'll crush them all... I will find the one who's controlling these damn monsters!

If only I had a weapon...!

"Ugh!" My heart...!

**"I see, I heard your request, loud and clear... Your determination to seek the truth is truly unrivaled. If you need power, I shall give it to you..."** Wha...?

**"Awaken your power. Thus, your fate will begin, here and now..."**

I feel immense power awakening in me!

"Hey, shitty monsters... My name is Kano Kageyama, miss me?"

"I will cut down everything that obscure my path! Whether it is fate, monsters or anything... I don't give a damn!" I proclaimed in front of these monsters while pointing the light in the grasp of my hand to the monsters.

In that one moment, the light finally forms into a solid object... In the shape of an axe. But it seems small, but I feel the power within it... I can control this weapon. Though this is my first time holding this weapon, I feel like I know its power and name.

"Time to do this, Verus Hache!" As I call upon the name of my white-clad axe expands and became long enough to reach the enemy.

Thus, I raise my axe and mutter a farewell to the enemy;

"Die."

And I swing down my axe with all my might—

*BAM!*

A loud thud can be heard from the sound of the axe crashing to the ground.

Within a single strike, I got them all! My axe also returned to its original size... Well, better to carry it this way.

Hm, I just noticed but there's a purple orb in the tip of my axe... Really light, too...

As I was still observing my axe, I heard footsteps from behind.

I quickly ready my weapon and turned around and I saw—

"Are you... the girl from before?" I would never mistake that girl that saved me! Now I can get a chance to thank her!

"I see you have awakened your soul device... Well, I did see the spark in you when we first met. I also noticed you have broken through my memory manipulation, an effect of entering the Eclipse, I suppose?" 'Memory manipulation'? ''Eclipse'? Soul Device'? What does that mean? I have a lotta questions in my mind right now...

"Uh... Yeah... I forgot to say this last night, but thank you for saving me..." I said, scratching my head.

"Don't mention it, it's natural to save people who wandered into the depths of an Eclipse vortex, something like that, hahaha~" This woman talks about complex words, what the hell is an 'Eclipse'?

"Well, if you have questions, ask it later, no time to explain, you can fight, right? Let's go." As I was about to ask a question, the girl ran to a pathway and signaled me to follow her.

"Wait up!" Looks like I'm going to have a lot of work done today...

There's still many things I don't understand, but if I follow this girl I can surely clear those up. Time to go, then.

I followed her along the pathway, which is really wavy and... Kinda gross.

"Some greed are up ahead, oh, you don't know what's a Greed, right? They're monsters that inhabit this world, which is the Eclipse. Anyways, I don't have time to explain, let's fight them." I see, so they're called 'Greed'... They're the ones who killed my friend... I need to destroy them all.

And there it is, a Greed. This monster looks really hideous... They are pretty big too, well, I could probably enlarge my small axe...

"Aha, I'll let you kill this one, since you need more fighting experience. I'll intercept when it gets too rough, though I don't think you need any help." Heh, she's right, I don't need help... I'll be the one to help people, at least, to atone for my actions in the past...

Thus I faced the Golem-like Greed face-to-face. He's definitely scary... But I can cut him down with my axe...

"Whew..." I gather all my strength, sweat continuosly fall and produce on my body. I calm myself down, to get ready. With my small axe in my right hand, it shall cut down mountains of Greed.

"Ha!" I enlarge my axe as to match the enemy's size, but it couldn't get any bigger than that, so I equally match it to their size.

I tightly gripped my now enlarged axe with my two hands and swung it with all my might towards the enemy, causing my weapon to clash with the iron skin of my enemy. More, more, more strength! "Grh!" My hand gets strained out trying to get a single scratch of his armor, but there was no dice.

"Tough guy..." I reverted my axe back to its original size to rest my hand for a while, but there was no rest–

"—Ugh!" I reflexively dodge its attack, causing his hand to get stuck inside the ground... Wait... I think I can do this.

I looked back to the girl, who was smirking in the distance. Is she some kind of sadist? Well, I know what to do now.

Every people has a weakness, well, is the Greed I'm fighting is even a person...? Anyways, I stand by the point that that Greed has a weak spot like every people have. Conviniently, there seem to be a spot I'm considering...

I just need to wait. Wait until their next attack...

I prepare my axe, while taunting the Greed by wiggling my butt in front of him. Can they even be taunted in the first place?

Anyhow, it seems to be working and its pretty angry now...

Shoot, it's coming!

I dived to the left to avoid his downward fist, and due to its punch being downward, it gets stuck in the ground, now before it pulls it out, I gotta climb its arm!

"Wah!" I jumped on the arm, ugh, it's really wriggly on top on this... I cautiously run towards his neck, which looked really soft, and when it's soft, you can penetrate its skin...!

"GRAAAAAHHHH!" I swung my small axe into its giant neck!

I can feel that its working! Now, for the last performance...

Expand.

*SLASH!*

* * *

"Agh." I groaned, damn, that was a lot of work.

I check back to the girl, and I noticed her observing me throughly... Weren't she mocking me a few minutes ago?

"Nice work out there with your handy hachet." 'Hatchet'? I see, it's the type of weapon I use... I thought it was just some small axe.

"I haven't told you my name, right?" I nod, I don't feel comfortable not knowing the name of the one who saved me.

"My name is Akemi. Akemi Ichihara. Nice to meet you, Kano." She holds out her hand, meaning a handshake.

She knows my name...

"Nice to meet you too, Akemi."

Well, a first name basis right on the get-go is weird, but I guess we've been weird since we entered this situation.

* * *

**A/N And now we're done with the first part of this arc, bravo!**

**Verus means True, by the way, and Hache... Self-explanatory, but it's Hachet. So, basically it's "True Hatchet" when in English form.**

**Thank you guys for reading~ Stay tuned for the next part!**


	5. Arc 1 Part 2

"Haa... Haa... Kano..."

"Ah! Mm... Akemi?"

"I want it so bad... Please..."

"Aah! I'm not going to give it to you, yet..."

"Please... PLEASE GIVE ME A BREAK, KANO!" Akemi shouts so loud that it drilled into my ears, goddamn, this girl is so noisy.

While walking around looking for a 'specific thing' as Akemi instructed, we've been pretty tired, but this girl...

In fact, this girl has been asking for breaks every 2 minutes or so!

"I swear... You just let me fight that one time because you were lazy..." I said as I recall her smirking face, making fun of me everytime...

"No! I didn't just let you fight because I was lazy! I was observing your skills as a fellow Soul Device user!" So she doesn't even deny the lazy part...

This girl's personality is so irritating once you get to know her...

"Haa... Let's take a break, then, I have a lot of questions to ask, anyway." I looked for a good spot to take a break and sat down on the ground. Akemi does, too.

"Hey, Akemi, first of all, how did you know my name?" I asked first the one that have been dwindling in my mind, pretty sure I don't have a nametag anywhere on my body...

"Well, of course, because I searched for you in the class record after our encounter." I see, that answers my question.

"Okay, next question, what the hell are you? You seem to be experienced with this dungeon-like labyrinth which you called, what was it? Oh, Eclipse." I asked the second question that has been in my mind ever since.

"Is this some type of talk show... Anyway, I'm just a human that also recently awakened to her soul device, just not as recently as you, I got mine last week. In that last week, I got lost here, like you, I mean, who wouldn't get really terrified and run away from those monsters? I awakened my powers due to me being in peril and surrounded by enemies and I just slashed them with my sword like *whoosh!* *zing!*, kinda like that." Well, that was quite the story, basically like me... But how did she get the knowledge of the Eclipse and stuff relating to it?

"I see... But how did you know about the Eclipse stuff?"

"Well, after that, I met a guy claiming that he's from Nemesis, he explained me everything about the Eclipse, and stuff like that. I haven't seen him since, though." Nemesis? What's-

"Oh, and Nemesis is an organization that observes the Eclipse, heard that there was one more organization, but I forgot the name..." So there are even organizations related to the Eclipse...

Damn, within these years, no one ever knew the existence of the Eclipse? That's... actually horrifying...

"Okay, done with the questions? I'm going to teach you about soul devices and a little bit about Greed." This is the part I've been waiting for!

"First off, do you see that orb on your hatchet?" Orb...? Is she talking about the purple orb in my weapon?

"Yeah, what is it?"

"That's your attribute, basically, your type of power. Think of it like an RPG, they have elements right? Yours is Shadow, because your orb is purple." Whoa... I got some edgy element... It sounds cool though, I don't mind, in fact, I like it!

"Soul Devices are weapons that can be manifested by your own soul. But remanifesting it on your own... is pretty hard. Try hiding your weapon, just remove the power in your body and it'll disappear." Hiding my weapon? Hm, alright...

Removing the power temporarily, huh? So, I can just calm myself down and retrace the source of my weapon so it can go back in my soul?

*Whoosh*

Alright, it's in my body now.

"Now, try making it appear again." Huh? I don't understand the point of this...

Okay, I'll try reimagining that power again, and make it appear...

Hrm...

Hrhmmhmhmm...

"It can't?!" I slumped down on the floor, confused on how to do it.

"See? Hand me your Xiphone." Wha? Is this some kind of robbery because I couldn't do it–?!

"And no, this isn't a robbery, I'm just going to send you an app." Oh.

"Phew, shoulda said so earlier." I sighed as I handed her my Xiphone, she then proceeds to take out her Xiphone and fiddles with it.

"App sent." She said, returning my phone.

"What does it do, though?" I asked, I saw the app's interface and it looked pretty complex.

"It stores your Soul Device's data and lets you manifest it easily and quickly! It also does some other stuff, but I'll explain it to you when you discover it. Handy tool, huh? That guy gave it to me. Cool stuff." I see... It is pretty useful, then...

So, I just need to tap this plus sign right here and... Whoa, it registered! Now, I just need to swipe the screen to manifest it...

*SWISH!*

Ooh! It appeared right on my hand!

Technology sure is convinient.

"Lastly, let me tell you about greeds. Greeds are monsters, obviously, but they have an element too, just like yours, Shadow. There are 5 different kinds of elements, as far as I know, they're Fire, Spirit, Steel, Wind, and yours, Shadow. Your element is pretty lucky, you can deal more damage to those pesky Greed, no matter the element! Unless, there's a Light element... Well, that's all about the Greed that the guy told me. Any questions?" That was such a long explanation... I almost slept through it... So, my element is lucky? Isn't Shadow kinda a thing that villains always have? Well, that's alright, as long I can kill Greed... But, what is her element?

"Hey, what's your element, Akemi?" I asked, then she smirked, she seems to be looking at me... Wait, she seems to be looking behind me...

I looked back and I see a greed's body looming over me.

"Holy fu–!" I shouted in surprise, I didn't expect a greed to reach this place!

I readied my soul device using my weapon and then-

"Hahaha, Kano, your expression is soooo priceless!" Akemi jumped in front of me, then her soul device appeared.

"You see, Kano, you see this orb? It's green, and you know what that means, right?" She then proceeds to point the orb at the handle of her thin sword... Wait, no, it's a... Katana? It's... really shiny, and it looks different than common katana...

"Well then, this seems a good time to demonstrate how to use elements properly! Looks like the enemy's perfect for this! Wind versus Steel, the winner's obvious now!" I see! The enemy's element is Steel! The app says that the enemy is Steel... The app can analyze Greed's elements too!

"You can corporate the elements into your soul device by visualizing what you want to do! Like..." She then pulled her sword backward, and pointing it towards the greed.

"This."

*SLASH!*

Whoa. Is she... a goddamn samurai?! That was really... beautiful, actually... I still feel the gush of wind on my body... Oh! I got it... So, that's how she did it...!

"See that? I can use the wind to speed myself up! Awesome, right?" She smiled, also forming a peace sign with her hand.

Ahh... Goddamnit, here it is again, that smile is so cute...

"Hm? What's wrong, Kano?" She crept up on me... She's too close! "Get away from me! It's nothing!" I turned my face away and tried to change the topic, "Let's just get going!" I walked away from the spot we're on and Akemi follows.

"Che... What's gotten into you? Our break was too short!" Akemi pouted and complained endlessly, but she follows anyway.

"You know, I regret thinking you were cute." Ah, fuck, that slipped out of my tounge.

"Eh?! Really? Ooh, the tsundere Kano finally admits that I am cute! You really thought that I am cute, huh? Right, right?!"

Well, shit.

* * *

**...**

_*SLICE!* *SLASH!*_

"Ha!" I striked the greed with my trusty weapon, then–

"Your turn, Akemi!" Akemi nods and leaps onto the air, then pointed her katana at the greed, "Let's do this, Swift Blade!" Akemi shouts as she call her weapon's name.

"Hundred Slices of Death!" She then powers herself up using her element and sped up her attacks. That's like a cheat skill! Unfair!

"One!" She shouts as she deals the first strike,

"Two!" Then the second,

"Three!" Then the third, wait, isn't she speeding up little by little as she slices up more?!

"Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine!" Whoa, whoa, whoa!

I can't follow anymore, she's too fast!

"And... One hundred." Holy shit.

"That was an overkill..." Just imagine being in the place of the greed instead... Oh... The gruesome horror.

"Well, I just thought of it myself, anyway, we're finally here." She said, stopping at what it looks like a big door.

"Huh, what's this door lead to?" I asked, and then what she said afterwards was a mix of both hope and despair...

"It leads to the boss of this Eclipse gate... The Elder Greed."

"And..."

"Mayu Takahashi."

She said so with a straight face.

* * *

**A/N: Whoa, things are heating up. Maaann, the ideas in my mind are going berserk! Looks like I won't get into a writer's block anytime soon! Hehehe**

**Thanks for reading, and tune in for the next chapter, またね! (Mata ne!)**


	6. Arc 1 Part 3

"W-what did you just say?" I heard it loud and clear but I couldn't believe it. Is there finally a glimmer of hope beyond this door?

"Mayu basically is alive. Oh, in case you ask, I'm not joking either." B-but I saw her with damn blood all over the floor!

"W-what do you mean she's still alive?"

"She's alive, enough said."

"But I saw it with my two eyes! Her bloody body... Her pale face... HER CORPSE!"

"Is that all? Have you even checked her body AFTER you came into the Eclipse vortex? You didn't. She was sucked in as well, but as a hostage. She was simply unconscious, not dead, mind you."

Really?

I'm... so glad... Now I can apologize to her properly...

"Wait. What do you mean by hostage?" I asked, Akemi cast her face downwards and cleared her throat.

"Well, this is exactly why I decided to come along with you. There are greeds called Elder Greed and they're the boss of this labyrinth. We need to beat them, and I can't do it alone." What does that relate to my question thou–

Oh.

"You're telling me she got taken by the Elder Greed?" This situation is getting worse and worse...

"Yes, those type of greeds tend to take someone with strong negative feelings." Strong negative feelings... So, when I saw her lying on the ground... She was suffering so much in pain... If only I wasn't that scared back then, this wouldn't have happened...!

"HYAH!" I shouted suddenly as someone blew air on my neck!

"Don't think about the impossible. No normal human would be sane after seeing what looks like a dead body. Besides, we're going to save her right now, right?" Yeah... Akemi's right.

"Thank you, Akemi." Akemi's words really snapped me out of my negative vibes.

"Hehe, you're welcome!" She smiled at me and pointed at the door, "C'mon, you open it." Well, alright then, let's do this.

I slapped my cheeks and ready my soul device, and put my hand on the door.

"We're going to save you, Mayu!" Then, I opened the door.

What lies beyond that door was...

a huge monster.

* * *

"That's... so fuckin' huge!" Holy crap, is this fucking real?! We have to fight that?!

"Heh, heh. Don't just lose motivation, Kano, look behind the monster, you have a girl to save, right? What happened to your motivation earlier? You've fought a Greed as huge as that earlier..." Oh yeah... I don't have time to be scared right now... Behind that monster... Mayu...!  
Mayu is unconscious inside a cage behind that Greed!

Hang on, Mayu... I will save you right now!

***GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!* **A loud growl rang through my ears, signaling that the Greed saw us.

"I see that you got your motivation back! Get ready! He's coming!" ...He's charging right at us!

**"Let's do this, Verus Hache!"** I call out my soul device as I swipe my Xiphone's screen to summon my weapon.

"Hm, quite flashy, huh, Kano? Alright, I'll follow! **Heed my call, Swift Blade!**" Akemi shouts as she summons her weapon, similarily to my style. No time to think, "Let's strike 'em!"

_*SMASH!*_

Smashing my large ax to the ground, I shook the dragon-like greed off his feet due to the quakes that my weapon produced by striking the ground as hard as I can!

"Nice one, Kano!" Akemi follows suit, she runs upon the large handle of my ax and rushes towards the enemy, the greed is about to get up...!

"No, you aren't...!"

_*SWISH* *SLASH!*_

She used the wind to slice through the greed's arm! She safely lands in front of me, looking straight at me.

"Great thinking, Akemi! It's my turn now!" I ran towards the huge monster; getting his attention, he tries to charge towards me too! "Head-to-head, huh? Not bad!" Akemi shouted from the sidelines, cheering me on (probably?)

As I get closer to the greed, I slowly enlarge my ax, which almost restricts my movement, but that's perfect! I'm now in the perfect spot to strike that greed!

"Gah!" I groaned as I swung my heavy ax sidewards, it may be not that sharp compared to Akemi's katana, but through the heaviness of my ax, I shall knock him back towards the wall...!

_*BOOM!*_

A loud thud can be heard from the clash of my ax and the huge monster... and also the impact of it hitting the wall! But, not yet, not enough! It's not yet dead!

"One... more!" I enlarge my ax once again to reach the monster and swung my ax downwards, hitting the monster once more!

_*BASH!*_

"And another one!"

_*CRASH!*_

"The last one!" I put all my power into my grip, and crush that monster!

_*CRACK!*_

As I smashed the monster with my last move, a crack was heard.

... A crack on the wall? Wait, no, it's a crack on the monster's head!

"Akemi, let's finish this!" Akemi already knew what to do next and runs towards the monster, I feel speed gaining through me too! Akemi shared her power to me!

"Uooooooh!" With a loud war cry, I leaped towards the greed's vulnerable point; the crack on the head, and charge towards it with my hatchet!

"TAKE THIS!" I smashed my hatchet through the monster's crack on the head and...

Enlarge my axe.

_*BAM!*_

But it's not yet done, we need the final blow... through its core! I had already made an opening by crushing the thick armor in his head!

So that means–

"Akemi!"

—And with this... I sensed her killing intent for the greed. She instantly reacted to my call and jumped ahead of me, wind was pulling towards her, making my footing imbalanced.

"Greed who dirtied his hands... I will exterminate you right now. Sit back, Kano, I'll give it my all with this one strike." She's going to finish the Greed!

She takes up a stance; her sword raised above her head with the blade facing upwards... I feel intimidated all of the sudden... This aura... What is this intense killing intent?

She looks so different with that stance... Her eyes are devoid of what makes her ownself...

"**ONE-SHOT KILL!**" She thrusts her body forward with the strength of the wind!

Closing into the core, she ends it—!

_*SLASH!*_

"And it's the end."

Cutting through the core in a diagonal line, she finally kills the greed.

"Wowie, it's finally over! Hahaha!" Within a second, she quickly changes into her normal self... What a carefree girl this is.

"Man, I don't know how you pulled that off, but that was awesome, Akemi."

"Weeeell, I did learn Kendo a few years back, didn't know I was going to use it for this!" She puffs out her chest, seemingly proud of herself.

Huh, I'll allow her to brag about herself this time, she deserves it...

"Anyway, did you know? That stance is called Jo-" Akemi was going to finish her sentence, however...

Sound of footsteps were heard.

"Kekeke, I see you finally defeated one of them Elder Greed. Magnificent." The teach from before...!

"Ha? What are you going to do, huh? 2 vs 1 isn't a fair trade, isn't it?" I spoke back, standing besides Akemi, readying our weapons.

"Hm, no, but how about fighting two more?" ... What?

In an instant, two big identical Greeds appear besides each other.

"Oh, and also, your princess there in a cage? Rejoice, for she's going to die in that lava within minutes if you don't finish this quickly." Then I saw the cage which Mayu is in slowly descends towards the lava below.

"Wha–?! Hey, teach... You fucking bastard! That's playing dirty!" However, he didn't respond to my insults and walk away with a smirk... FUCKING...

I'll kill them all.

I'll crush them.

I'll cut everything in my path!

You'll pay for this, teach... BECAUSE I'M PRETTY PISSED OFF RIGHT NOW!

"Calm down, Kano, don't act based on your emotions!" Akemi held me back, as if to stop me from my madness.

But no, it's futile.

_I'll crush 'em. I'll chop them all up until they can be held by my own hands..._

Not good, more negativity is coming into my soul.

_They'll fucking pay._

_Offer no mercy._

My shadow thoughts are taking over my actions.

I pushed Akemi away, while she was saying something. No use, though, I can't hear her.

_GIVE THEM PAIN._

_Wait, no... More than that..._

_Give them... DEATH._

_Crush everything with this power..._

_Just rely on this power and you can continue on with your life._

"_Die, you fucking_ greed!"

Shadows are enveloping me.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for late update '-' Was busy with stuff like slacking off, and school. But mostly because I was slacking off. Anyway, thanks for reading! Tune in for the next chapter. Things got heated up fast, huh?**


	7. Arc 1 Part 4

I'm drowning in hatred.

Jealousy, horrific sense of justice, hypocrisy, malice and evil creeps into my soul. Directly into my soul. I accept them all...

In order to get strength.

I need power.

Power to break them all.

I'd gladly sell my soul to the devil just to get power.

Everything. Everything is falling apart in my body. My past self is slowly breaking. Letting my new, wicked soul take over.

I don't need a damn axe.

I need something more crushing. Much more grandiose.

Perhaps...

a Hammer.

A hammer to crush those who defy me. Who stands in my way.

Change, my soul.

Change, into impurity.

Blackness. Bloom into my weapon.

"RAAAAAAGGHHH!" I scream, releasing all my rage, into this damn insect.

"Don't lose control!" A girl screams, I don't bother identifying her, though. All I need is to crush the one in my path with my hammer. "Please... don't give in... Kano!" Ugh, shut up. You're ruining my momentum. Crush, crush, crush. This damn monster won't even die. What a fucking joke. "Kano... It's already dead... Even if I need to use force to stop you... Then I will." Hm? Something is coming up behind me at a very fast spee-

*SLASH!*

Huh? Something grazed my cheek... This woman... You have a backbone now, huh? Accept the fact that I'm different than before. "This isn't like you at all, Kano! You might be a little bad-mouthed and sometimes burst into a reckless spree, you won't even do this!" I am NOT that boy from before... I shall prove it... using your own death. The old me wouldn't do this. Too bad, woman, I'm new.

I closed the distance between me and the girl, causing the girl flinch, I didn't waste a single second and bring the hammer right through her side, knocking her back quite a distance.

"Gu—" She coughs out blood, but who cares? I quickly catch up to the girl and brang my hammer down to her body... Grow, my hammer. My hammer increased in size tenfold and crushed her body.

Guess that's it.

Hm... This feeling...

This isn't right. I'm beginning to become some edgy jerk. This is wrong...

"Useless, irrevelant thoughts. My goal is to only kill those who blocks my path." I brushed off those thoughts and faced the still-alive monster.

"Die." Grow, my hammer... tenfold.

Slam. Slam. Slam.

Grow, my hammer, tenfold.

Slam. Slam. Slam.

GROW, GODDAMNIT!

SLAM SLAM SLAM

I jumped up in the air and lifted up my heavy hammer.

Charging right to the monster, with the speed increasing my power, I violated the already-dead monster.

Not even one single dust remained.

I obliberated it.

Nothing is in my way anymore.

But... What to do next?

I can't remember.

My feelings... Only my anger remained.

I can't control myself anymore. It's better to let my feelings do all the work, even if I get some casualities along the way. I feel regret, that's for sure, but that's why I am human. Therefore, this is normal. We kill to survive. Is this the way to live? Is this my true personality? To care not for others, but just for his own self-satisfaction? What...

I-I don't know anymo-

*SLAP!*

A feeling of a striking palm towards my right cheek interrupted my thoughts.

"You lost sight of yourself, Kano. You drowned yourself in power. Look, look where it gets you. Not a single thing remains of the monster... Just like yourself. There is no "yourself" for you anymore. Rage? Anger? What a pitiful excuse. You just want to use that power. Look at that monster once again. You did a number on it, showing off your so-called skills. That's why, Kano, I've been telling you... Don't lose sight of yourself..." Akemi condemnly said, tears slightly forming in her eyes.

"N-No... I did all because of pure hatred! That's no excuse and you know it! That's why I lost control of myself and tried to kill you—" I tried to answer back, but Akemi's gaze pierced me. She looked like she knew everything.

"Yet... I wasn't killed. Was that a way for you to show that your big ol' hammer of yours can do anything? Bravo, you now have my interest, but that wasn't anything special. Because the weapon did all the work."

"B-But..." I tried to think of another thing to say. Yet, her words were right. I was just using my power to get a sense of pride. Even if that's true...

"No more. Let's save the woman you wanted to save." Akemi turned her back on me and walked towards the cage where Mayu was locked up.

I followed behind her, leaving only silence as we did what we need to do. We saved Mayu, but I couldn't feel anything about that, I was overwhelmed by what Akemi said... Drowned myself in power, huh? Is that also the reason why I hated Mayu? I have seemingly showed off my power by the means of bullying Mayu...

Ah, goddamn, now the regret is overflowing...

The cage was already unlocked by Akemi, who just swung her rapier to break the lock. She's amazing, that's for sure.

I carried Mayu. She was peacefully sleeping, unaware of the horrors around her...

Damn. I really, really hate myself.

"Y'know." Akemi suddenly said, made me surprised.

"There's no need to hate yourself. That's what humans feel, I guess." She said, while blushing. I bet she also realized how embarrassing this whole thing was.

"Hyah!" Wha?!

She slapped her own cheeks with a loud sound, afterwards, she stumbled for a bit because of the loud impact of slapping of her own cheeks.

"H-hey, you alright?" I said, leaning over her back, I saw her face was really red. Due to slapping her own cheeks, I guess.

"Don't talk to me." She instantly said, rejected, huh?

"ALLLLLLLRIIIIIGGGHHTTTT!" God, my ears hurt now. What caused her mood to get 180 all of the sudden? I can't understand her at all...

"Today, marks the day... That you'll be my partner!"

"Who said you can decide that on your own?!" Whhaaaaaaa-? Why do I need to do such troublesome thing?

"You have a power, you know, power to SAVE the world! Besides, you did enjoy fighting Greeds, right?" Well, she's not wrong...

"But, can I really do this?" I might lose control of myself again...

She slowly turned around and faced me, she inched closer and closer...

"Listen, I'm going to be your partner. So whatever things you do, I'll be there with you, to correct your mistakes and slap you outta your crazy mind." With a very short distance between us, she poked my cheek. "And, you'll be my partner, whatever things I do, you'll be there with me, to correct my mistakes and punch me outta my crazy mind!" Punch is an overstatement but... "Sure, I'll punch ya outta your crazy mind when that happens!" I said, while pushing her away from me.

"Hahaha! Did you seriously say that?!" She held her stomach and laughed at me... "Well, technically, YOU were the one that forced me to say that embarrassing thing!"

"Hey, I didn't say anything about you needing to say that!" Ugh...

"Hah... Well, let's get outta here, then..." We noticed a blue door near to us, I guess that's the exit.

"Alrighty, let's go back!" She happily shouted, and we go through the blue door...

* * *

"And, we're here!" That was fast... There was a blinding white light and it instantly vanished as we stepped foot to the outside...

"See ya tomorrow!" She said, running to the direction to the main gate.

"Ah, yeah..." I just noticed it's already nighttime, I guess I should bring Mayu back to her house... Time to think of a plan to get unnoticed by her grandparents. Another thing to do before this day ends... Hah...

* * *

I walked along the night streets of Sennyu Monzencho, while suddenly Mayu moved around my back. "Finally awake, huh?" I said, while carrying her.

"What... happened?" She weakly said. I guess she doesn't remember the events of Eclipse... "Well, you got lost, I had to find you in a really large maze, you know." Technically, that's the truth.

"Huh... Weird, I can't remember that... Must be because I suddenly fainted...?"

I still silently walked along the streets while carrying Mayu on my back.

It was awkward.

But I knew I had to break this silence.

""Hey."" Oh.

"You go first." I said, allowing her to say what she wants to say but...

"Well... You go first, instead. Mine's not that important." She allowed me to say my piece.

"Alright, then. Let me cut to the chase then, I'm sorry. I treated you so badly even though I knew the truth. I just wanted... someone to take my anger on. And I know that ain't really nice... But still... I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She said.

...

"That's all?"

"Well, we are friends, right? Besides, it's natural for you to act that way. I was actually waiting for you to apologize." Damn, this woman...

"Heh, you really are a special one, you endured my selfishness and abuse, while waiting for me to apologize to boot! Man, still, I'm really sorry." She tapped on my back, signalling that she can go home on her own.

"By the way, I wanted to thank you... Thank you for carrying me back here. I can go alone from here. I must have been pretty heavy, huh?" She said, bowing her head.

"Nah, you're pretty light. Doesn't really bother me."

"Oh... Um... Thanks..." She turned around, blushing. Though, I don't know the reason why.

"Also, Kano, have anyone told you that you've changed? I don't remember you being this kind and humble before."

"H-huh? Even I can be kind, y'know... Anyway, nah, you're the first one who told me that." I hung my head down, no one saw me being this kind before, huh? I guess the Eclipse thingy changed my mindset...

"Hehe, I'm the first one... Alright, see you tomorrow, Kano." She waved at me, and gone back home.

Been a long time since I felt this happy. Gotta thank Akemi for that. Wait...

What did Akemi say again? _'See ya tomorrow'_?

Pretty sure we can't see eachother tomorrow without any place to meet up... Guess she'll just show up at my school, she wears the same uniform from my school, though I haven't really seen her roaming around the campus.

Anyway, time to go home~

* * *

I was just a normal high school student.

It was a very... fun series of moments of my life.

She was my source of hatred.

She was the cause of them all.

No.

Everything are from the past.

Now, I am a not so very normal high school student, heck, make it abnormal, I mean, I fight monsters that threaten the world's peace!

Now is the start of a new journey, not for fun, but for the world.

Now is the time to man up and correct my mistakes.

Now... is the start of my double life of being a savior, and a high school student.

* * *

"Hello, I'm Akemi Ichihara, my hobby is... playing the guitar, I guess? Anyway~ Nice to meet you, everyone~ " She made a peace sign and bowed down in front of us.

On the board, is written Akemi Ichihara in kanji. Akemi Ichihara is bowing down on the front of the class. Akemi Ichihara introduced herself. Seriously?

A transfer student... Seriously?

The same class as mine... Seriously?

This got to be a set-up.

Aaaand now is the start where I will get bugged by Akemi, every single day.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, everyone~ been busy this past month, couldn't really find the time to work on this! But now... Christmas break is coming... THUS, I can fully devote on this series once more!**

**Merry Padoru in advance~**

**Thanks for reading, stay tuned~**


	8. EX 1

**"Unknown [X]"**

"Miss, are you a student of this school?" A woman wearing shades and oddly formal suit stood in front of the school's gate, at the sign saying 'Shinsou High School'. She was asking questions to the students of this school...

"Yes, b-but why?" A young girl stopped and surprised about her appearance. The shades-wearing woman was certainly out of place.

"Do you know a student named 'Mayu Takahashi'?" The odd woman asked.

"Um... Was there a student like that with a name like that?" The student was confused, she doesn't know anyone with a name like that.

"I see. Sorry for taking up some of your time." The woman said, the student left afterwards.

"This continued throughout the day until evening.

"No, I don't know who's that." "I don't really know..." "Who is she? Is she popular?" "I didn't hear anyone with a name like that..." "Aoyama doesn't know either..." "Don't know, don't care."

"And of course, the answer was no. Every student didn't know who was Mayu Takahashi.

But, night came, and a student came back to school...

"Excuse me, do you know who is Mayu Takahashi?" The woman asked.

"Huh? Didn't you ask me this before?" The young girl was surprised, the shady woman was still there.

"My answer was **YES**, right? Of course I know her, she's like, a rich girl that's accquianted with Kageyama-san. Now then, I need to go, I forgot something at school." The student climbed the closed gates of the school and hurried into the school.

The woman then turned on her earpiece in her right ear.

"Movements of magic throughout the Kyoto region, reported subject, Akemi Ichihara, she seems to be using some form of memory manipulation regarding the existence of the individual named Mayu Takahashi. I will be personally observing this situation just in case it worsens." The woman reported to some unknown person in charge.

The person in charge, then said,

"Noted. We shall intervene if they interfere in our plan... Although, that would be unlikely."

"Maybe, but there's still a possibility." The woman replied.

"Anyway... We will control the other world. We will make everything possible with the Eclipse... Preparations must be done this year." The man on the other side of the earpiece said, confidently.

"Roger." The woman then turned off her earpiece.

* * *

"Kyoto... the 'Eternal City'... hm."

The man smirked and fiddled with some kind of phone.

"Eclipse... such a wonderful world..."

A twisted and murky gate appears in his monitor, rather, in the area he was monitoring just when the man pressed a button on his phone.

"Hehe... Going good so far..."

**... **

**..**

**.**

**To Be Continued.**


	9. Arc 2 Part 1

_Let us begin the tale of a misunderstood boy._

_Being a delinquent isn't so bad,_

_Throwing your care away from the world into the abyss,_

_Though being accused of one is pretty bad,_

_You'll notice something's amiss,_

_Because the world has turned their backs on you._

"A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on."

\- Terry Pratchet

* * *

"Heeeeey, Kanoooooo, give me your foooood... I'm hungrryyyyy!" Akemi leaned on my desk, banging on it to get my attention. "Holy shit, Akemi, didn't you eat 3 curry bread on the way here?" I lowered my head, this is pretty much a bad case of hunger. I swear, she'll be eating people soon.

"Well, you could just give Akemin some of your food, she looks pretty pitiful." A girl butts in on the conversation while she moved the desks towards mine, she had a short black hair and rectangular glasses... Wait... She calls Akemi with a letter 'n' so...

"Aoyama? Did you cut your hair?" I said then she nodded, while sighing. "What? Did you get rejected or something?" I jokingly said, though I guess Aoyama took it seriously since she glared at me after that sentence. She probably won't talk to me about it, so I just ignored it. "Classic Kano, pretty insensitive!" Akemi chuckled, thinking this situation was pretty funny.

"Oh, shut up, anyway, here's some food, but you clearly don't have chopsticks." I opened up my bento (lunch box) and it contained the classic rice, egg rolls, beef and assorted veggies which I always have, by the way, I cook my own lunch boxes, so I guess that's one of my unexpected perks.

"Eh, just feeeeeeedd meeeee... Or is it that you're embarrassed to give an indirect kiss to me- MMRPGH!" Before Akemi says anything more than necessary, I forcefully feed her a large helping of rice using my chopsticks and I hoped for her to shut up.

"That wasn't really nice... Well, I guess Akemin always like that..." Aoyama said, while opening her bento, her bento was also pretty simple, though it always have less meat. Well, girls. Except for Akemi, though.

"Hey, it's pretty delicious, though, even if it's just rice!" Akemi will be always Akemi even on the verge of choking. I continue eating and disregarding my so-called indirect kiss with Akemi.

Haah... Ever since Akemi transferred here, it's been a series of troubles...

* * *

**A week ago...**

Immediately after Akemi introduced herself, she sat down on an empty seat which was CONVENIENTLY right next to my seat. What the actual fuck?

I looked at Akemi, shocked, she then, looks back and wink at me.

WHAT'S THAT WINK FOR?!

"Hope you guys get along...Well, Kano is a little troublesome but I think he'll behave himself when sitting beside a beautiful girl like you." Reiko, my teacher said all those things... HEY! What's with that side comment, teacher!

Alright, calm down, I'm sure she'll be quiet. She wouldn't dare to talk to me since if we talk in class, we'll be the center of rumors.

I will just relax and do my usual at my seat and...

"Pst, Pssst, Kano!" Akemi was poking me. Maybe for textbooks? Stay calm, Kano.

"Yeah?" I said, leaning a little closer to her.

"Can I borrow your textbooks?" Alright, it was just for textbooks!

"Sure." I reached out for my bag and fished for my textbooks.

And then, Akemi begun her move.

"By the way..."

"Last night was pretty fun, don't ya agree?" I knew this was coming. She didn't even whisper it. I immediately whispered to Akemi, "Fuck you!" But it just lit the flames more. "Maybe later tonight, then." Oh my fucking...

Immediately we got the class' attention, without the teacher noticing, of course.

"Hey, hey, it seems that those two are in an intimate relationship!" "They're already at that stage?" "They're even flirting in public!" "Damn you, Kano... She was going to be my dream girl..."

Whispers of my classmates echoed through the room, and how does the teacher not even notice?!

"Oi, Akemi, what the fuck?" I facepalmed, but Akemi just stayed there and chuckled.

Eventually, the flames died down... but that was just the first period.

Second period.

There was more teasing, and more of my classmates were skeptical about me and Akemi.

I really hate this life.

But anyway, once break time came, Akemi surprisingly got along fast with my friends. This is how it goes:

"Hello, Ichihara-san, nice to meet you..." One of my few friends, Aoyama, stood infront of us, and greeted Akemi with a bow.

"Hey! Nice to meet you too!" Akemi grinned and gestured for Aoyama to sit down beside her.

"I don't mean to pry, but what did you and Kano do last night?" Aoyama asked. That was going to be obviously the first question she will ask... I'm worried about Akemi... Damn, will she embarrass me more? Hope not... My reputation is on the line here!

"We did lots of things~ " '~ ', MY ASS!

"NO! We did not. She just helped me find Mayu and she was just teasing me the whole time!" I intervened, I can't allow myself to be more embarrassed!

"Huh. Seems you'll be a great girlfriend for Kano someday... I can imagine you and guys going at it... Akemi on top... Ehehehe..." Aaaand Aoyama is off to her own world. I tried.

"Well, ain't that great, Kano? We get another vote! We'll be unstoppable!" What does that even mean, Akemi?!

"Ugh... Hope Mayu won't get the wrong idea..." I facepalmed again, eventually accepting my cruel fate of being eternally teased by Akemi.

Standing up from my seat, I approached the door leading to the hallway. "Huh, Kano, where ya goin'?" Akemi asked, while being merry with Aoyama. "A place without you, a peaceful place without any of your antics..." I had given up on fighting my fate and decided just to retreat.

"How rude, everything is peaceful when I'm around." Sure, sure.

As I leave, I glanced over Akemi and Aoyama, who was still being pretty happy around eachother's company.

"By the way, can I call you Akemin?"

"Sure, sure!"

Huh. Seems like Akemi is a natural in socializing, unlike me.

I don't really need more friends though, I need to keep this tranquil life...

While fighting monsters that endangers the world...

Well, certainly not a tranquil life after all.

When I was walking down the path towards the rooftop, I saw a green-haired boy with 2 tall men with a crazy appearance under the stairs.

"U-uhm... I'm sorry... But please... Wait... I can provide it tomorrow..." The green-haired boy said meekly, what are they doing? Are they ganging up on the green-haired boy?

"Are you fuckin' with us? Not funny. We didn't come 'ere just to hear a coward running away from his duties lying about not havin' the money." The guy with an unusually-shaped hair said, walking closer to the green-haired boy.

The other guy stepped forward and punched the wall, it resounded loudly in the area I was standing on.

"Oi, oi, oi, what do you mean you don't have money? I've been waiting for the damn money since you said you can give it this day!" The man with a really spiky head said and pinned the green-haired boy to the wall. Damn, this is pitiful... I should just ignore it though, none of my business.

As I walked away from the scene, I looked at the green-haired guy once more, looking at his situation.

He was getting beat up by 2 towering delinquents extracting money from him.

Before I looked away, he saw my gaze, and stared into my eyes.

Those eyes; full of expectations; expectations of which asking me to help.

Should I...

really be helping him?

Then I looked back to my past.

My constant bullying to Mayu. Her eyes. Her actions...

That must've been Mayu's feelings back then... Asking for help...

This isn't just at all. I should... help him!

I ran towards the scene and as I ran, I saw a glimpse of hope in the green-haired boy's eyes.

"Hey. Is it really fun to gang up on an innocent person?" As I asked that, the two intimidating guys stopped and looked at me.

Looks like I caught their attention.

"Who are ya? You don't mean to save this guy, don't you?" The man with the unusually-shaped hair said and slowly loomed closer to me.

His aura was overwhelming. As expected of a delinquent.

"Ah, him? Nah, was just going to watch. Continue on." The green-haired boy instantly got caught up with negativity. My line was too much, I guess, but this is needed...

"Heh, alright, let's continue." The spiky-haired delinquent said and the green-haired boy crouched on the ground, with his hands on his bag.

The spiky-haired delinquent raised his arm and its hand's form was a fist, with many veins popping out of it, experienced this quite a lot, huh?

"Better have the money in that bag!" The delinquent targeted the green-haired boy's jaw, I assume he's going to get the boy's bag when he knocks him out. He knows his stuff.

The fist was slow in my eyes, I don't know why, but that must have been the effect for being in the eclipse.

And as his fist slowly approach the jaw, I punched his wrist and stopped it from hurting the boy. I pushed him away forcefully so he wouldn't be close to the boy.

The push made him fall over on the floor and generate a large impact.

"Sike." I said and positioned myself in front of the boy.

"Hey, you, find a safe place." I said to the boy, he immediately nodded and headed towards the infirmary.

I'm not used to this, but I've read a book once about fighting stances, and this looks easy to move in.

I try to find my center of gravity to firm my position, and extended my left foot towards the delinquent, and my right foot at back, with approximately shoulder-width space between them. I bended my knees slightly, fixed my elbows towards the delinquents. My right arm close to my body and my left arm is in front of my body.

And finally, I readied myself.

Without words, the delinquent stood up, as if expecting this. Looks like I didn't completely let him go off-guard, huh?

He quickly closes in with a jab, and I took the damage on my hand, blocking it.

I moved backwards, choosing to stay on the defensive.

Honestly, I could've ran off right here and now... But that's not my style, these guys are pissing me off and I will save that guy.

"HRAAH!" The other delinquent tried to punch me from behind, but I dodged luckily, phew.

That threw me off, I quickly gained back my position and still stood still, throwing jabs at the air, taunting the delinquents to attack me.

From what I've seen so far, they are really clumsy in their movements, like me. But they don't think about their attacks and just punches.

I got to wait for the right moment.

The delinquent that was behind me before quickly closes in me and throws another punch, I quickly blocked it using my arms. Although, that knocked me back quite a bit, their strength is waaaay too strong and not to mention, really tall!

I still have to wait for an opening and take advantage of how tall they are!

If I punch them, it would be ineffective, considering one of their punches knocked me back, they might have really hard bodies...

"GRAAH!" The other delinquent that was close to me grunts and throws a punch, I stepped sidewards as to dodge it, but was met with another delinquent, he quickly tries to land a hit on me and succeeded, although I had to take it from the side. Atleast it's not on the stomach-

"RAAAH!" Man, can't they give me time to think?!

I blocked another one of their punches and the pattern continued.

While they were attacking, they gave me the perfect position. The center of the hallway.

The two delinquents were now on either side of the hall. One on the left, one on the right. If I get lucky, they will attack me at the same time...

""HAAAA!"" The two delinquents approached me with a raging fist at the same time and I quickly crouched to dodge their attacks, and finally...

They punched eachother on the jaw at the same time. They were knocked out at the same time.

Whew, that was more than I was expecting, thought they would just take damage from eachother, not a knockout.

"What is the meaning of this?!" A teacher saw the scene where two guys are lying down on the floor while I was on the middle of it.

"Time to run." I retreated quickly to the rooftop, without glancing back to the scene. Hope the teacher won't remember me...

...

When I got to the rooftop, that's when I remembered, I forgot my bento in the classroom.

What a pain.

I eventually came back to the classroom and saw that Akemi got ahold of my lunchbox and was eating it for some insane reason.

As her words say:

"Eh? I was hungry."

And I saw Mayu interacting with her as well... That was fast!

Haah... I'm going to be hungry the next classes to come...

* * *

Still, I still wonder what happened to that green-haired guy.

Another girl approached us and it was someone we know all too well, "What's up, Mayu? I don't see you often eating with us." I said, bewildered at the sight of her in this group. She placed her desk next to Akemi's and sat down with her bento.

"Just wanted to share this news about this delinquent, might as well warn you Kano, you always get yourself in unnecessary trouble." Oof. Hit it where right it hurts.

"A delinquent? In this school?" Aoyama asked, curious about the whole thing.

"Huh, a delinquent... What's the big deal? It's normal for delinquents to be here at school every now and then."

"It's not just any other delinquent like you, Kano, I heard he killed a student before. Looks pretty dangerous to me." What? That IS pretty serious.

"Huh... Tell me the details, I'm kind of curious now." I slowly gained interest on this discussion.

"First of all, his name is Hiiro Kazan (火山緋色, literal meaning; scarlet volcano) from Class 3-A, I believe."

"He has red hair, kinda emo-y hairstyle... It's hard to explain, but I found a picture of him in the NiAR."

Akemi raised her Xiphone towards us and showed us a picture of a teenage guy that had red hair, his bangs only on the right side, covering his right eye. He also has red eyes and little light skin. Looks really emo...

"How can he be a delinquent with looks like that?" Akemi asked the question that was on my mind, then Mayu answered with a shrug. "I just heard he keeps skipping classes a lot."

"NiAR is pretty handy, I should download it soon..." I said, admiring the NiAR app. The NiAR app, is essentially a social gathering network. You can interact with a lot of people there, post some stuff on the internet, make some group chats, privately chat with others, stuff like that. I haven't downloaded it myself, though.

"Ah, rather than downloading, I could pass the app into your phone, here." Aoyama raised her phone towards mine, which was sitting on the table, and swiped up on her phone. I thank Aoyama briefly before checking out my phone.

I got an notification on my phone, saying that I've received an app. Well, I should just leave this for later.

"Anyway, back on topic, he killed three students, from what I've heard. First was Okino Shinobu, from Class 2-B, member of the basketball club, has no relations to Kazan, whatsoever. The thing is, he was found hanging out with Kazan before he shortly died because of a single deep stab in the heart. The other victims were like that too. Sasaki Tomoaki of Class 1-B, once again, no relation to Kazan other than hanging out with him on the last day he lived. He was stabbed in the heart too! It was also the same for Omura Sozui, the third victim..." Mayu said, informing us of all the so-called 'killings by Kazan' rumor, she must be really believing this rumor...

"Honestly, I don't think it's possible that he killed them all... He was just probably unlucky to be with them at the day they died. Seems a little farfetched, don'tcha think?" Akemi shared her thoughts, taking interest in this rumor.

"I share the same thought with Akemin, it doesn't have enough evidence." Aoyama said, apparently takkng interest in this rumor as well.

Mayu sighed and shown a picture of a news article.

'Highschool student 'Hiiro Kazan's fingerprints match with the murder weapon?!'

It showed a picture of a really sharp kitchen knife, along with Kazan's face with a fingerprint match from the knife.

I'm guessing that's the murder weapon?

"Man, that's really bad. That is evidence enough, but still... I still can't bring myself to believe he killed those three..." I said, although there was evidence, there was still something nagging in my mind.

"Huh? Why?" Mayu tilted her head, confused.

"I don't know myself, but... What is his motive? He literally just met them once, and he just goes in for the killing?" So I said. I still can't believe it.

"I understand where you're coming from, Kano, but nowadays, the 'whys' of murder is disregarded. Most just simply do it for fun, which I think this guy also did. Usually, physical evidence is just enough for them to establish a suspect." Aoyama shared her point, that's the truth of the world nowadays, I guess.

But still, I doubt he was the killer... My guts are telling me that much.

"Hm..." Akemi looks like she's deep in thought, too, wrapping her head around these stuff.

"Anyways, guys, breaktime is ending soon, so let's go back to our seats." Aoyama said, arranging the tables for us. Such a sweet girl, even when rejected. "I hear your thoughts, Kano." Aoyama said to me with an annoyed look.

With that on cue, the bell rang, signaling the end of the break.

**ARC 2 Part 1 END**

**To be continued...**

* * *

A/N: Finally~ things are building up quite a pace~ anyways, all that I can say,

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more~


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